“Welcome back to Primeval, now get on that bike, pretend there’s a raptor behind you, do it until six o’clock in the morning, and don’t moan.”
James Murray is talking about the new direction his character is taking following the dramatic revelations at the close of the first series. Cutter has learned that his closest ally and best friend betrayed him in the worst way, by conducting an affair with his wife Helen. Starting at the moment series one ended, Murray goes on to explain the damage this causes to the friendship.
“Series Two starts exactly where Series One ended, with Cutter not only in huge emotional turmoil and confusion about the existence of Claudia, but also what has happened between Stephen and Helen.
So it is with these two bombshells that we start the second series. And its obvious right from the off, that the dynamic between the characters of Stephen and Cutter has altered completely.
Stephen is extremely unsure of what to say to or how to behave towards his friend, because Cutter is deliberately not giving anything away emotionally. He obviously isn’t proud of what he has done and clearly wants to talk to Nick about it. He wants to confront his friend and face up to what he has done. He wants it to be sorted out one way or the other, but Cutter refuses to be drawn into any kind of discussion. Nick only speaks to Stephen when he absolutely has to. He is, understandably, deeply hurt by what Stephen has done, but because there is just so much going on for Cutter, the only way he can cope with it is to shut Nick out. So you get a genuine tension between the two characters, which wasn’t there in the first series, when they worked alongside each other. The shorthand between them has gone, and they are now practically strangers. It’s sad, but great too as when you put that in the context of the storylines that Primeval offers, with the high stakes every week, it becomes like a double jeopardy. There is this mini power struggle going on between these two guys who no longer trust each other, set against the bigger struggle of them trying to do their job and save the world.”
With the friendship between the two men rapidly and spectacularly imploding, the impact for the rest of the team is a dramatic one.
“Cutter and Stephen were there from the start. Together they form the front; a sort of team within a team, but as a result of what Stephen has done, all that has been compromised. In that one moment, a huge amount of trust and respect between them has been destroyed. The tension between the two affects everyone and cracks and divisions start to appear which makes for some really dramatic moments on screen.
Given their rather particular line of work, there are a number of times when lives are on the line. Consequently there are moments amongst the action invariably when things go wrong for both Stephen and Cutter and you’re never quite sure if it’s coincidence or circumstance. If you get distrust between two people and you put them in a situation where they have to depend on each other, the result is that you get a real sense of jeopardy.
The younger members of the team are shocked by this sudden change as it comes totally out of left field. And as Cutter begins to turn to others, notably Connor actually, Stephen becomes increasingly disillusioned and begins to question the work they are doing and the way in which Nick conducts that work.
It’s partly jealousy at being shut out, but largely due to the fact that Helen keeps coming back to him, and whispering in his ear. It’s obvious that she has a real effect on him and he believes her when she says that all she wants to do is impart her knowledge to help them move forward with their research into anomalies and the problems they create. She is of course totally manipulating him, to try and get him on side against Cutter.”
He goes on:
“It’s great, as there is now a lot of deeply surreptitious behaviour going on and Stephen is caught right in the middle of it all. Whilst his heart is in the right place, he is in an increasingly difficult and strained situation. He wants to be a part of the team, to be accepted again, but because there is now a real distrust there, he turns increasingly to Helen even though he knows that she is real trouble. It pushes him down a narrow tunnel and he becomes more and more cornered towards the end of the series.
As he becomes increasingly compromised, the only way that he can bring about any solution or salvation is pretty desperate. But of course I’m not going to tell you what he does or that will blow the surprise” and with that, he grins “and that would be a shame because it’s a damn good one!”
It’s not just his friendship with his Cutter that undergoes a change; the revelation of the affair seriously damages his relationship with Abby. In series one, it was obvious the two shared a connection, but Stephen’s betrayal swiftly brings an end to their burgeoning romance.
“Series One was set up so that these two might one day end up together; it was a real ‘will they, won’t they?’ scenario. But I think it’s fair to say that as soon as Abby finds out about the affair that he has had with Helen, all that affection that she had for him is dropped. Hannah’s character is very black and white when it comes to right and wrong and how you behave towards people. Stephen really feels the loss of her friendship, I think, as Abby is such a warm person; she is the peacemaker, and you really have to do something major for her to shut you out. But towards the end of the series, for better or worse, this helps him make choices.”
However it’s not just emotional changes that the team are dealing with this time round. The altered reality of series two sees the team gain a brand spanking new headquarters.
“We have a huge, beautiful set called the ARC. It looks just like a Ken Adam’s set. Ken Adam was the art director who built the sets for the early Bond movies, and also for Doctor Strangelove. He was actually called Klaus Adam and is a German artist, who came over to escape the Nazis during the war. He went over to Hollywood changed, his name to Ken Adam and designed sets for movies
He came from a German Expressionist background which was a movement all about sharp angles and using greys and blacks to create a create an overbearing and claustrophobic atmosphere even in the largest of spaces. When I spoke with the artistic director, he explained that he had based the ARC design on Adam’s sets which were designed in such a way as to make you feel isolated and small. His sets were almost overwhelming which, in order to sell the scale of the kind of thing that we are dealing with, is so perfect.
The beauty of working in the Sci-Fi genre is that you have license to go completely mad artistically.
The design team have pulled out all the stops with the ARC. It gives Primeval real scale and underlines just how much things have changed this time round. It is no longer just five people working from a Professor’s University laboratory any more; this is a team of experienced scientists combating a serious threat. The ARC is the official nerve-centre of a government-funded operation and it is completely purpose-built for front line security and defence. There is nothing cosmetic about it. It screams ‘we’re really serious about our work because this is a top-secret government building’”
In the first series, Stephen was very much the action man; the one the team turned to in moments of crisis to get the job done. Weapons trained, he was the all action hero who arrived just in the nick of time to save the day. Things have changed slightly this time round, as the entire team is much slicker and far better trained. So does Stephen still get his hands dirty?
“The action has been shared out a lot more, which I think is as it should be. That’s what this show is all about; it’s an action adventure show. To be honest, I think everyone would just get bored of waiting around for old Stephen to rock up and save the day. What’s great is this time is that everyone gets their moment in the sun; each member of the team gets to save the gang from whatever perils they are faced with at that given moment.
To be robbed of some of the action is no bad thing as it’s meant I’ve been able concentrate on the character a bit more. It’s great to get some big storylines. And while this is action drama, and you know that they are not going to be hugely complicated it’s still good to do. There is more to get my teeth into. But I haven’t been totally usurped” he grins “while everyone can shoot, I’m still the guy who hits the target every time.”
Flashy new headquarters and inter-team bust ups aside, what everyone wants to know is what creatures the team are going to be battling this time round?
“We start off with the raptors going crazy in a huge shopping mall which was great fun actually. Dougie and I get to ride around on scrambling bikes whilst chasing, or being chased by, these raptors. It was a great opener for the two of us as we got on set and they said ‘Right. Welcome back to Primeval. Get on that bike, pretend there’s a raptor behind you, do it until six o’clock in the morning, and don’t moan.” They were the first scenes that we shot, and Dougie and I were grinning like big kids racing around in this huge shopping centre. We had to work really hard to try to convey genuine fear! And it’s also a great way to launch the audience back into the show as the action never stops. We’re definitely back with an almighty bang.
In Episode Two we’ve got these worms which move around in this gas which creeps along the floor. So while you can’t really see them, you can sense them moving around. We were all leaping from desk to desk in a big office block, the idea being as soon as you touch the ground, you are in trouble. That was fun. That is the essence of this whole show – it’s revisiting those moments of childhood, and stripping yourself back to those memories.
In Episode Five we were out in Fuerteventura filming in the desert with giant scorpions; not real ones obviously as that would be too scary. In Episode Six we have a Columbian Mammoth on the M25 which is a giant step for Primeval as to put one of these creatures in such an environment makes the public a part of it on a much larger scale than before. It gives it more of a Ghostbusters feel. The ante has well and truly been upped this time.”
Looking back over the shoot as a whole, has there been a particular sequence he enjoyed filming?
“I really enjoyed the sequences in the desert. We spent a couple of weeks filming the sequence of Cutter and Stephen rescuing this little girl from an oxygen-starved period in history, where there was nothing but scorching sun, and giant insects that live in the sand. That gave us time to explore things between the two characters a little bit as they are essentially stranded out there.
It’s a great backdrop for two people who already have tension between them, to then have to work together again. They are forced together to protect this child as well as to try and figure out what to do. Mabel, who played Taylor, the little girl in episode five, was such fun and we all had a really good time.”
And finally, how does he feel about having his very own Stephen Hart action figure?
“People ask me how I feel about it, and to be honest, I don’t know yet. Having action figures is a real part of the hit of the series which is great, but it’s also kind of bizarre! It’s rare to be immortalised in plastic but I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product, and perhaps putting it on my mantelpiece, and hoping it doesn’t melt!”
From Primeval Press